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Revealed: The clubs that footballers really support

The boyhood teams of some the game’s biggest names

Generally speaking, Premier League footballers are well advised to be discreet about the team they truly support. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of David Bentley, a supposed lifelong Arsenal fan who suddenly professed to be a boyhood Spurs fan upon switching to the north London side. With this imprudent declaration in mind, Spoiler correspondent Ben Baker has rounded up ten footballers whose loyalties don’t necessarily lay with their employers…

Andrei Arshavin
Despite only recently joining the Gunners, fan favourite Arshavin has never hidden the fact that Barcelona are and always have been his team of choice. He has said he was devastated when a move to the Catalan giants never fully materialised when he was at Zenit and has even stated that he would love to play for Barca since he has been at Arsenal. Now if that isn’t a ploy to gain a bigger contract…

John Terry
Mr. Chelsea didn’t make it to Manchester City in the end this summer. Many Chelsea fans will like to think that it is because he is Blue through and through. However, Terry was actually a Manchester Utd fan growing up. Could this be why he couldn’t bring himself to join the Citizens?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The baby faced assassin made a name for himself at Manchester Utd,becoming a firm fan favourite even after his playing career was over. Perhaps we should whisper the fact that he was a Liverpool fan as a boy then. Ssshhh…don’t tell anyone.

The Evertonian Reds
This bunch of players deserves to be grouped together. Such Liverpool legends as Michael Owen, Ian Rush, Jamie Carragher, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler were all boyhood Everton fans that somehow made it into a red shirt. And who’s this little chap? Does he look like he will narrowly escape an assault charge when he grows up?

Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese star finally made it to Real Madrid this summer, a club that he has adored since an early age. However, even though Ronaldo started his career at Sporting Lisbon, he actually grew up supporting their city rivals Benfica.

Lee Clark
Clark managed to start his career with the club he supported all his life, Newcastle, helping them to promotion to the Premiership in 1993 and to two runner-up spots. He then moved to arch rivals Sunderland. All was well though as he helped them gain promotion to the Premiership in 1999. However, he was then seen at the 1999 FA Cup Final supporting Newcastle, wearing a t-shirt with the slogan, “Sad Mackem Bastards”. Needless to say, he never played for Sunderland again.

Micah Richards
The City star is a lifelong Arsenal fan, so if they were ever to inquire about the young defender, expect a transfer request to be in the post quicker than Brian Gunn’s P45.

Henrik Larsson
The prolific Swede was linked with a move to Everton before the transfer window closed as David Moyes looked for cover for his injury prone attack. Although it never materialised, Larsson is said to be a boyhood Toffee, although his allegiance never persuaded him to sign for Everton during his career, opting for Barcelona and Manchester Utd instead. Can’t blame him really.

Harry Kewell
The Aussie must have thought he was living in a dream world when he signed for his boyhood favourites Liverpool. Unfortunately for him, it was very real and it quickly turned from a dream to a nightmare as he struggled to find the form he had when playing for Leeds.

David Healy
The Ulsterman is a boyhood Rangers fan, but has spent his professional career playing for English teams and hasn’t had to endure a barrage of abuse from Celtic fans. However, in a friendly against Celtic when playing for Fulham, Healy just couldn’t help himself as he pretended to play the flute in an apparent mimic of an Orange band member. An apology was not far behind.

6 responses so far

Lee Dixon, once of Arsenal, a self-confessed Manchester City fan. Just like his dad.

Fernando Hierro// September 15, 2009 at 3:57 pm

Raul was a colchonero. Raul’s entire family were Atletico supporters, they have since been converted with the exception of his brother who roots for an Atleti 4-3 scoreline with Raul scoring a hattrick.